1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food preparation systems and methods. More particularly, the invention relates to a radio frequency identification device (RFID) equipped conveyor system and method for at least partially automating the order-taking, preparation, and delivery of food products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art methods of ordering, preparing, and delivering food products in restaurants, cafeterias, and other food establishments are inefficient and labor-intensive. For example, a waitress or cashier typically takes a customer's order and transfers it to a handwritten order form or one printed by a cash register. The order is then either manually carried or electronically transferred to a kitchen or other food preparation area. A cook or other food preparer then reads the order, prepares one or more food items to fulfill the order, and then places the food items in a designated pickup area. The food is then given to the customer by the cashier, carried to the customer's table by the waitress, or delivered to the customer's home via a delivery person. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these primarily manual steps increase the costs and decrease the throughput of food establishments, especially those that serve a high volume of customers. Such manual steps also often result in mistakes in the ordering, preparation and/or delivery of food items.
Many types of conveyors and ancillary apparatus used to apply food ingredients to substrates moving along the conveyors have been disclosed in the prior art to alleviate some of the above-described problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,070 entitled “APPARATUS FOR APPLYING MATERIALS TO SUBSTRATES” describes machinery that can deposit a prescribed amount of ingredients to a substrate such as a pizza base. U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,750 entitled “TRANSPORT BAND FOR CONVEYING ALONG A SPIRAL PATH” by Damkjaer, et al. even describes conveyors that allow for non-linear motion. However, these systems still require a great deal of manual intervention and therefore only partially solve the problems discussed above.